Write well because writing poorly gets you nowhere.

Books

February 19, 2013

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how most people don't want change, even though they say they do. I've observed it over and over in the professional world as well as in the personal one.

I've been reading Seth Godin's brilliant Linchpin, and he has this to say about it:

How was it possible to brainwash billions of people to bury their genius, to give up their dreams, and to buy into the idea of being merely an employee in a factory, following instructions?

Part of it was economic, no doubt about it. Factory work offered average people with small dreams a chance to make a significant change in their standard of living. As a bonus, this new wealth came with a pension, job security, and even health insurance.

But I don't believe that this was enough to explain the massive embrace of a different way of life. The key piece of leverage was this promise: follow these instructions and you don't have to think. Do your job and you don't have to be responsible for decisions. Most of all, you don't have to bring your genius to work.

In every corporation in every country in the world, people are waiting to be told what to do. Sure, many of us pretend that we'd love to have control and authority and to bring our humanity to work. But given half a chance, we give it up, in a heartbeat.

Like scared civilians eager to do whatever a despot tells them, we give up our freedoms and responsibilities in exchange for the certainty that comes from being told what to do.

These are pretty harsh words, but I belive them wholeheartedly. A lot of times, I'm shocked when I come face to face with them in action. Partly, that's because I don't live that way. I want to use my genius. I don't think this way works any more. I believe potential is HUGE, and we're not living up to it. It's also partly because I've surrounded myself deliberately with people who believe that as well. They don't just want to be automatons, told what to do. They want to make a difference.

We all want to make a difference. It's just when it comes down to it, we'd have to think in order to do so.

October 11, 2012

So yesterday, as part of my mom duties, Itake Teen Child the Elder to a book signing. It's Neal Shusterman, author of dozens of published books and tv and movie scripts, and he's promoting Unwholly, sequel to Unwind.

What started out as one more activity to take a kid to turned into an amazing experience. For 90 minutes, Neal answered questions from the audience, ranging from how he was inspired to write his various books to who his favorite characters are to his writing process.

As a writing coach and a writer myself, I asked the question I ask all writers: "Describe an average day, including your writing life and 'real' life."

His answer: "I get up a 6am to take my daughter to school at 6:15am. I come back at 8:00am and sleep for 15 minutes until I have to take my other daughter to school at 8:15am. I come back to check email for 15 minutes. 3 hours later... I decide I should do some writing. As I work on current story (and am stuck), I get a call from a fellow writer who is equally stuck. We decide to meet for lunch and complain to each other about being stuck in our stories. Finally, we decide we should get some writing done, and we write for about 45 minutes until it's time for me to go pick up my kids from school. The rest of the day, I play dad."

The point to all this? He is helping dispel the myth that Real Writer writes for 8 hours a day, every day, no matter what, and is divinely inspired all the time.

Neal reinforces the idea that we can be successful writers, even just writing 45 minutes a day. (Although he did say that when he's in the creative flow, he might write for 2-3 hours at a time. In addition, he takes cruises in the off-season to get a lot of writing done.)

I certainly didn't expect enter the writing world last night. I'm glad I did.

The point
is that, yes, you do need to adapt. And what that means today is that you
are busy, and you don't have a lot of time to sift through pages and
pages and pages of information. With something like the 30-Second book
series, you open the book, read a page, get great information, and you can be
done right then and there if you want. Great information. Bite-sized chunks.
Easy to digest and use.

So, I'm
adapting as well and offering you great marketing tips in small chunks
so that you can actually use the information, not feel overwhelmed.

My own
30-Second Marketing Seriesstarts October 15, and for 30 days, you get a
marketing tip delivered in 30 seconds (or fewer!) - giving you great marketing
strategies in a way that you can actually use.

March 03, 2010

Lots of people do. One statistic that writing coaches and book shepherds like to throw around is that 80% of people say they want to write a book. And how many of them actually do? Something like 570,000 books were published last year. Nowhere near 80% of the population.

For a lot of would-be authors, that book idea remains a dream, one that they can turn to, daydream about, but never make any real effort around.

Are you tired of just dreaming?

Are you ready to get started on your book?

Are you willing to turn that daydream in for the real thing?

If you're in the Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C. area (or if you're willing to travel to lovely Maryland), I have just the workshop for you. Your Book: From Idea to Ink will help you take that daydream and put some structure around it. Because that's really the problem. Your idea is so formless, so big, that you can't get a hold on it.

That's what Your Book: From Idea to Ink will do for your idea - it puts it in a nice container so that you can actually see the idea, how it's taking shape, and your next steps.

Your Book: From Idea to Ink takes place on Saturday, March 20, at the Glenview Mansion in Rockville, Maryland.

At the end of the day, you will

Be very clear about your purpose for writing this book (clarity informs everything - and makes the writing easier)

Identify your target audience, and, no, it's not "everyone"

Sketch the structure of your book

Set the goal of your finished book

Create a plan to get you to reach that goal

From Idea to Ink - taking that formless idea and starting to put it on paper, meptahorically speaking.

Won't you join me on Saturday, March 20? And make that book-writing dream a reality?

January 18, 2010

The statistic that writing coaches, book marketing coaches, and write-a-book-in-a-weekend programs love to shout to the world is that 80% of people say they want to write a book.

What do you think the key word is in that statistic?

"Want." They want to write a book. The number of people who actually start - and finish - a book is much, much lower. Why is that? If so many people want to write a book and that's on most people's list of what they want to accomplish in their lifetime, why doesn't it happen?

Because the fantasy is much more lovely than the actual doing.

It sounds so wonderful to say, "I would love to write a book some day." You put it out there in that wishful, far-away timeframe, and that's where it stays. No pressure. No one screaming at you to get it done. No quota of pages or words per day. A lovely daydream to turn to when work gets boring or your mother-in-law/mother/pick-a-relative drones on and on about her latest cough/cold/itch.

The truth is that writing a book is hard work. I don't mean the actual putting on paper words and sentences. What's hard is taking consistent action, even when you don't feel like it.

And there will be those days, maybe many of them, where you - just - don't - want - to - write.

I'm a big believer in following your energy, as in you'd rather write now than clean the cat litter box, so do it. Or your soul is crying out for a walk around the lake. Do that.

But following your energy doesn't mean giving into that "I don't wanna write" whine. Sure, there may be times where your creative and productive energy isn't there. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about when you establish that you're going to write four times a week, and morning #1 comes, and you're just not feeling inspired.

That whole "I can't write if I'm not inspired" is just part of the writing a book fantasy, too, by the way. It's something all writers face, and it's the successful ones who write anyway.

If you find yourself not wanting to write, try something new.

Open a book on writing. Anywhere. Read. You can't help but get ideas.

Apply those ideas concretely. Create a worksheet, timeline, storyboard, or a mind map.

Read a book in your genre or category. Pay attention to how it's structured. Think about how you can apply that to your own work-in-progress.

Rearrange your office. Change things around.

Declutter, clear out, organize, and throw away. You'll be surprised at what comes into the space you've just made.

Go somewhere (mountains, lake, park, Starbucks). It all feels fresh and exciting and makes you WANT to write.

"Isn't that just putting things off?" you ask. As long as you write, no. If you're planning and plotting the structure of your book, that's writing. Now, if you're rearranging your office for the third time this week, reading five books on writing, and still not writing a single word, then there might be an issue.

Not writing isn't necessarily procrastination. Think of it as energy management and helping to move your energy toward writing.

You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club. ~ Jack London

I can't explain inspiration. A writer is either compelled to write or not. And if I waited for inspiration I wouldn't really be a writer. ~ Toni Morrison

I only write when I am inspired. Fortunately I am inspired at nine o'clock every morning. ~ William Faulkner

November 12, 2009

I kept meaning to post this yesterday, but I never did, and since the weather is the EXACT same today as it was yesterday, the first thing for which I'm thankful is still valid (although maybe not quite as much as I'm not nearly as excited about a rainy day again today as I was yesterday).

Today, my thankfulness emerges...

The biggest advantage to a cloudy, rainy day is that I can light candles everywhere and SEE them. On bright sunny days, I can light all the candles I want, and I wouldn't really notice them.

My children got all A's on their report cards, and I had to console them over "satisfactory" (as opposed to "excellent") marks in handwriting and participation in one class. Handwriting. Geez. I had to remind THEM to be thankful for the multitudes of A's on their report cards and not get stuck on the one less-than-perfect mark.

My standards are getting clearer - and stronger - with respect to relationships. Stacy and I had this conversation a while ago. She said she didn't want to have anyone in her life that didn't see her as precious. I'll take that and add to it that I won't have relationships in which it's my complete responsibility to maintain them. In those relationships that it has been that way in the past, I leave them behind - completely and with no regrets.

Self-care. It is SO hard for me at times, but I'm grateful that last night I recognized the need to get out of my own head, and off to Starbucks I trotted - alone.

I am so freaking thankful that I am finished reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I hated it. Okay, so why read the whole thing? Because at the beginning it wasn't too bad, and I wanted to see if the author materially changed the original story. There were some things that the author added in (sexual jokes and lots of vomiting) that just weren't necessary, even to the zombie part of the story. What I've learned is that a parody or an adaptation of a classic I love does NOT work for me. So, no, I will not be reading Sense and Sensibility and Sea Serpents.

I am even more freaking grateful that I've moved onto my beloved Miracle and Other Christmas Stories by Connie Willis. I read it every year around Christmas, and it's amazing how my energy shifted just changing from horrid Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and onto Miracle and Other Christmas Stories.

September 21, 2009

Your live book tour may end when you pull into the driveway at home at the end of a long week, but a great virtual book tour lasts forever on the Internet.

A virtual book tour takes place on your web site, and in special “appearances,” articles, blog posts or interviews on your own and other’s blogs, web sites, social media sites and on Internet radio and podcasts. Your virtual book tour can include web audio and video, photos, excerpts from your book, special bonus downloads of material that isn’t in the book, articles or research than extend your book content—plus downloadable gifts and bonus items.

Don’t be fooled: a virtual book tour takes as much time to put together as a real tour, and it requires a lot of behind-the-scenes work to identify good online partners, create content and publicize. On the other hand, a virtual book tour lasts until you or your other online partners take down the content, where a live event lasts only an hour or two.

Start by thinking about what elements you want to include in your virtual tour and who you can tap to help spread the word. At a minimum, most virtual tours include an excerpt from the new book, cover art, a fresh interview or two with the author, a related article or blog post, and links to where the book can be purchased.

You don’t have to stop there. Your virtual tour is really limited only by your imagination, web programming skills (or budget) and your time for preparation. You can use a program like AudioAcrobat.com to create an audio greeting readers or an online reading from your first chapter. Use a digital video camera like a Flipcam to upload a short video of you answering questions about your book and upload it to your own site and to YouTube. Offer a drawing for a signed copy of the book. If you write fiction, interview one of your characters. Twitter tips from your book, or even a whole chapter! Use your Facebook or other social media sites to preview new copy and related articles. There are lots of possibilities.

Start with your own web site. Make it the anchor site for your tour, the place where your main content will be posted. You should also include your blog and social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and any specialty sites such as Shelfari, RedRoom, AuthorNation, etc.

Look for partners. Find out whether your publisher would be willing to let you do a guest blog post or would publicize your online tour. If you’ve made friends with other authors, see if they’ll swap a guest blog with you. Find other bloggers who cover your topic or genre and ask if they’d like to participate. You can offer them unique content, a contest, or answers to a Q&A. Look for sites that already draw readers who would like your book and see if they will participate.

Then write a press release and send it out to the traditional and online media covering your topic. For best results, start your planning and begin making contacts about six months in advance and send out your press release about three weeks in advance, after you’re certain everything will be posted and working.

If you want to get a little fancier, try a “push page.” A push page is a special web site or web page that offers bonus goodies to anyone who orders through a link on that page. If you have friends who offer other books or products of interest to your readers, you can ask if they would offer an online, downloadable freebie on your push page in exchange for the visibility being featured provides them. If Amazon offers an affiliate program in your state, use your affiliate link for the online order button.

The idea of a push page is more common for non-fiction than for fiction, but I used it very successfully for the launch of my third book, Dark Haven. To encourage early pre-orders, I got several author friends to provide links to free downloads of short stories or chapters from their books, and a specialty coffee company even offered an online coupon!

I do two annual online events each year, my Hawthorn Moon Sneak Peek and my Days of the Dead International Blog Tour. One event is where I preview the newest book in my series, and the other takes advantage of the natural tie-in between the week leading up to Halloween and my fantasy series focus on ghosts. The online events allow me to connect with readers in places where I can’t reach through live tours, and I incorporate bloggers and web sites from all over the world to make sure all my readers feel included. The events grow in popularity year to year and have been popular with the media that cover my genre.

You can plan your online tour to coincide with your live tour, or you can plan it for a lull in your tour schedule. Either way, your virtual tour provides a great opportunity to visit readers all over the world and provide a lasting impression of your new book.

Gail Martin's brand-new book is The Thrifty Author’s Guide to Launching Your Book Without Losing Your Mind. Gail is the author of The Summoner, The Blood King and Dark Haven fantasy adventure novels in the bestselling Chronicles of the Necromancer series. Find her online at www.GailMartinMarketing.com and on Twitter at GailMartinPR and GailZMartin.

While the article was all about how writing and (not) getting stuck, it was inspired by my first reading of The Princess Bride. The book, on the surface, is William Goldman's adaptation of S. Morgenstern's original text. Goldman's adaptation being the "good parts" version.

It's a great example of voice, as we get such a sense of Goldman through his introduction and occasional break-ins to the story.

Now comes the spoiler part...

There was/is no S. Morgenstern. Goldman wrote the entire thing.

I was talking with Lynn one night after I'd already written the above article, and she told me, "I don't think there was a Morgenstern, if I remember correctly."

"What?"

So off I go to do some research, and, yep, no Morgenstern.

Along with a made-up autobiography (his "cold psychologist wife" Helen never existed, nor his "fat" son), Goldman also created the Morgenstern character, the fact that he (Morgenstern) wrote the original Princess Bride as a satire. Which meant that Goldman created a fictional author, a reason for the author to write, and those occasional writerly break-ins (for example, he breaks in and talks about how he removed 73 pages of packing and unpacking - because Morgenstern was rhapsodizing on the evils of nobility and Goldman thought it took away from the story).

Talk about a story within a story. So let's get it straight. Goldman created...

The original story of The Princess Bride

A fictional author, S. Morgenstern

The reason behind why Morgenstern wrote The Princess Bride

Goldman's own childhood (he says his father was Florinese)

Goldman's life and reason for doing the screenplay (note cold wife and fat son above)

The screenplay of The Princess Bride

The continuing story (along with Morgenstern's estate, Goldman's fat son all grown up, Goldman's grandson) of the sequel of Buttercup's Baby.

Oh, and he also brings Stephen King in to play

I'm truly in awe. And I'd love to know why the container story. The Princess Bride definitely stands on its own, although, as in the movie version and the book version, those little break-ins add something to the story. "Wait, Grandpa, Westley can't be dead..."

August 22, 2009

I finished reading The Princess Bride (more on that next week), and, as always happens when I finish a really great book, I struggle with what to read next.

For years, I've had Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love on my unread bookshelf. I've had so many people recommend it to me that I'm right 80% of the time when someone asks, "You know what book you should read?" Let me guess... Eat Pray Love? As a matter of fact, Stacy thought so strongly that I should read it that she bought me a copy back in 2007 when we were vacationing in Massachusetts.

But I still hadn't read it. On Thursday, I was chatting with Allison, and she said, "May I highly suggest you read EPL - ASAP?"

Fine. I can get hit over the head with a hammer and finally get it.

So I started reading today. And I love it. And I wonder why I didn't read it before. Probably because now was when I really needed to read it.

A few random thoughts and insights about Eat Pray Love:

I so wish I had written this book. Gilbert's writing style is close to my own - but (sigh) better.

The first page has this quotation: "Tell the truth, tell the truth, tell the truth."

I love how she structured the book around the traditional Indian japa malas beads - necklaces with 108 beads. Gilbert wrote 108 stories in her book. There's the whole magic of the number of 108 (it's a multiple of three, and its digits add up to nine, a trinity of threes).

Along with the smart structure of the number of stories, I love how Gilbert floats back and forth in time to tell her stories - those of her travels and those of how she got there. It flows, and there's no confusion or awkwardness at all in the shifts in time. So smartly written.

So much of Gilbert's story (at least through page 50) is my story. Here was one of the first pieces that touched me deeply:

"The many reasons I didn't want to be this man's wife anymore are too personal and too sad to share here. Much of it had to do with my problems, but a good portion of our troubles were related to his issues, as well. That's only natural; there are always two figures in a marriage, after all--two votes, two opinions, two conflicting sets of decisions, desires and limitations. But I don't think it's appropriate for me to discuss his issues in my book... I also will not discuss here all the reasons why I did still want to be his wife, or all his wonderfulness, or why I loved him, and why I had married him and why I was unable to imagine life without him. I won't open any of that. Let it be sufficient to say that, on this night, he was still my lighthouse and my albatross in equal measure. The only thing more unthinkable than leaving was staying."

Gilbert has an amazing storytelling capability, but she is a magician when it comes to language. Hence, this excerpt:

"Then my heart stood up, brushed itself off, took a deep breath and announced: 'I want a spiritual teacher.' I literally mean it was my heart who said this, speaking through my mouth. I felt this weird division in myself, and my mind stepped out of my body for a moment, spun around to face my heart in astonishment and silently asked, 'You DO?'

'Yes,' replied my heart. 'I do.'

Then my mind asked my heart, a tad sarcastically: 'Since WHEN?'"

Her explanation of why she wanted to learn Italian (and how the Italian language came to be) soooooo makes me want to learn Italian. Gaelic was top of the list, but Italian might overtake it.

She's funny (which goes back to the first bullet point and my style and the quality of writing I strive for). One of many examples: "Giovanni is my Tandem Exchange Partner. That sounds like an innuendo, but unfortunately it's not." And an even better example: "After meeting the boys in person, I began to wonder if perhaps I should adjust my rule somewhat about remaining celibate this year. For instance, perhaps I could remain totally celibate except for keeping a pair of handsome twenty-five-year-old Italian twin brothers as lovers. Which was slightly reminiscent of a friend of mine who is vegetarian except for bacon, but nonetheless..." (Funny enough, it's the friend who's vegetarian except for bacon that sticks in my mind the most.)

This last point is what made me close the book (temporarily) and get up to write this post. So many synchronicities. She talks about all she did to be positive and heal from the trauma the separation and divorce left her. Of all the things she mentions she did (prayer, therapy, Saint John's wort, and so much more), she ends this paragraph with this last example: "...carefully protected myself from sad movies, books and songs (if anyone even mentioned the words Leonard and Cohen in the same sentence, I would have to leave the room)."

August 17, 2009

Let’s be clear about one thing: the first butt your book tour will kick will be yours. Book tours are hard work. It takes planning and effort to pull a tour together, and nowadays, it’s the author’s responsibility to orchestrate their book tour, signings or online events. Publishers just don’t have the time, money or staff to promote every book in the way it needs to be promoted to stand out from the crowd.

With the total number of new book releases topping about 400,000 titles a year in the U.S. (including traditional publishers, print-on-demand and self publishing), your book has a lot of competition. A great book tour can help you and your book gain essential visibility to boost sales, increase speaking engagements and help you sell the next book!

What a book tour is:

A book tour is a great reason to send out press releases about your book. It’s a reason to contact media in every city where you visit book stores. It’s also a wonderful way to connect with readers and to introduce your book to new people. A book tour also increases your visibility as an expert.

Book tours are also great ways to get to know bookstore managers and staff, librarians, readers and book reviewers. When a store schedules a book signing, it has a reason to order multiple copies of your book. Even if you don’t sell every copy at the signing, you can sign the copies that are left behind and the store has an incentive to hang onto those autographed copies.

Book tours scheduled for the crucial weeks right when your book first comes out can encourage early sales. Rankings on bestseller lists usually measure the volume of sales in a book’s first few weeks. Events backed by lots of PR and invitations to family, friends and clients/prior readers can boost those early numbers and help you land on the sales charts, which is at least good for bragging rights!

What a book tour isn’t:

Unless you’re already a celebrity or a big-name author, most book tours are not paid for by the publisher. Your publisher may help out by posting the tour schedule you put together on their web site, posting a guest blog entry on their web site or sending you some free review copies to send to reviewers, but most publishers just don’t have the funds to do more. If you’re really lucky, your publisher may negotiate front-of-the-store placement with the big bookstore chains (they have to pay for it) or send you a graphic of your book cover that you or the stores can make into posters. That’s about it.

Book tours, alas, also aren’t major media events for the big-time TV and radio stations unless you are already well-known. However, they CAN be a big deal for your hometown media, the local media in smaller cities and even your alumni publications from college or graduate school. So while it’s unlikely that your tour will make The New York Times or The Washington Post, your hometown may run a nice interview or your local paper may feature your book. You can also parlay a book tour into a reason to contact traditional and internet radio stations with a fresh new topic related to your book.

Book tours also aren’t a guarantee of big sales. Unless you already have an established series (and even then, not always), a very successful signing in a bookstore for most authors runs between five and twenty book sales. If you are selling your book in the back of the room after you give a presentation, sales can be higher than that. Remember that the real payoff of a book tour isn’t necessarily in the sales, it’s in the exposure that leads to higher overall sales.

You’re also likely to find that your book tour doesn’t draw a big crowd. Most of the sales you make in a bookstore will be to people who didn’t come just to meet you and have never heard of your book. That’s OK. You’ve now gained a brand new reader who has not only discovered your book, but they can also tell everyone that they met the author!

Likewise, a book tour won’t make you famous. However, it can raise your visibility, give you a great reason to get media coverage, be a fresh topic on your blog and web site, and add life to your platform.

View your book tour as a reason to create publicity, make personal connections and get to know bookstore staff and hear their feedback. When you realize that the tour isn’t really just about selling books, you can relax and enjoy your moment in the spotlight!

Gail Z. Martin

Gail’s brand-new book is The Thrifty Author’s Guide to Launching Your Book Without Losing Your Mind. Gail is the author of The Summoner, The Blood King and Dark Haven fantasy adventure novels in the bestselling Chronicles of the Necromancer series. Find her online at www.GailMartinMarketing.com and on Twitter at GailMartinPR and GailZMartin.

June 04, 2009

As I've been writing my newest short story, I've been fleshing out why the antagonist, Anton, does what he does. I've been struggling a bit with his motivations. Not only do I, as the author, need to know why he's doing these awful things in this neighborhood (sorry, you'll have to read the actual story when it's finished to get more), but I KNOW it's going to impact the actual story. Why he does what he does might lead Molly to solve the problem, might actually impact the ending of the story. Heck, there's no "might" about it. It will impact the ending.

So, I've struggled with Anton's motivations. One, because it's so important to the actual story, but, two, because I think a 3-D, complex character is much more interesting than a flat, purely evil character. As part of the creative process, I'm listing as many reasons why he might do these bad things as I can come up with. I'm up to about fifteen, and that fifteenth might be the winner. I refused, however, to even list "he's just evil" as a motivation. That's a cop-out.

My favorite characters and relationships in novels are those in which there's texture, multi-dimensions. There has to be something there that the reader, and maybe even the other characters, can connect with. Even with the bad guys. Very, very few people in real life are purely evil. They all have fears, needs, motivations... and since we all have those things too, writing will have more impact if we can identify with those characters.

I'd love to start a discussion around your favorite "bad" character. I'll start. I love the demon Al in Kim Harrison's Hollows series. Sure, he's a demon, but he's not solely one-dimensional. He's almost... human in his motivations. By The Outlaw Demon Wails, Al is tired, and he appreciates the respect that Rachel shows him. Yeah, maybe Rachel should do whatever she can to banish Al to the Ever After, but we, and she, almost feel sorry for Al.

May 31, 2009

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading. :-)

I finished Tad Williams's Shadowplay. It was much better than the first in the series, Shadowmarch. Not that Shadowmarch was awful - obviously, it wasn't or I wouldn't have gone on to read the second in the series. By the end of Shadowmarch, the character development was in full bloom and the action sequences were rich. Those good things came to light fully and completely in Shadowplay.

In retrospect, it felt like Williams was trying to build history and character development in Shadowmarch before he could get to the "real" stuff. The story was compelling, but not enough to get me to read it very fast. Shadowplay, on the other hand, had me reading beyond breakfast and lunch, a true mark of a good book. :)

Unfortunately for me, though, Williams isn't finished with the third book in the series. I hope he doesn't take too long, as I have been known to lose interest while waiting for the next book (see Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series - I got so tired of waiting for the next book, and I didn't want to go back and reread the six or seven HUGE novels to get caught back up. I abandoned the series).

So now I'm waiting, but I'm putting that time to good use. My three favorite authors have all come out with new books, and because my SOP is to reread the last one before reading the newest one, I have six books lined up!

I will confess that I've already read Charlaine Harris's From Dead to Worseimmediately followed by Dead and Gone. Back to back, chain reading last Monday, and I can't tell you the last time I did that.

April 12, 2009

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading. :-)

I said I wouldn't do it again, but I did. I said I wouldn't read other books and NOT put them on the blog. It's just that I hadn't technically finished Shadowmarch yet. See, it's a long book, and I was only reading during breakfast and sometimes lunch.

And then Kathryn MADE me read the Twilight series after she got them for Christmas. But as soon as I was done reading all four Twilight books, I went right back to Shadowmarch. I didn't even read my newest Laurell K. Hamilton OR the Kim Harrison book.

It took me a while to get into Shadowmarch. I'm sure it had nothing to do with my hiatus. Nothing at all. The end was the best. The plot moved long very quickly, and the characters seemed more alive.

Luckily, since I had Shadowplay on my unread bookshelf, I was able to close Shadowmarch and open Shadowplay. The second volume picked right up where volume one left off, so that delicious suspense is still there.

One note: I don't like the cover art for volume two. I liked Michael Whelan's art much better. The cover for Shadowplay looks too futuristic, and it's fantasy, not sci-fi. (I don't have anything against sci-fi. It's just fantasy books should like fantasy books and vice versa.)

March 24, 2009

I was asked to review Family Folktales: What Are Yours as part of Karen Pierce Gonzalez's book blog tour. I loved the idea of writing as folktales, and I was happily surprised that Karen's book included writing how-to's. Over and over, she talks about writing as a process, and she gently encourages the reader (and future folktale writers!) to get started.

The best part of the book, for me, was the idea of popular folktale archetypes and motifs. Almost like prompts, the lists of common folktale characters and settings shifted my mindset around the idea of writing family history. I never thought about writing down family stories, but thinking of them in terms of folktales made me seriously consider it.

Plus, it also helps that I have a great model for this in a family book my grandparents wrote a couple of years ago and distributed around. Small Child recently used it as the basis of her genealogy project. Seeing how much enjoyment she got out of learning things about her great-grandpa was heart-warming. She feels she is the keeper of his stories.

And now Karen's book shows us something of how anyone can be a keeper of his/her family's stories.

March 09, 2009

Last spring, I had some medical issues come up, of the feminine variety. To dot all the i's and cross all the t's, my doctor did a biopsy of a cyst he found on my ovary. Common occurrence, regular procedure. Still, one worries. Well, at least I did.

I wrote a bit about the worries and how they were connected to the novel I was writing at the time. I didn't mention the particular medical issues at the time; they weren't key to the point I was making. The issue was that I absolutely felt that my health was directly related to what I was writing. Here's what I said about it:

I have to get this book done. Writing it is causing
mental and physical distress. Now, I could choose to not write it, but
that doesn't feel like an option either. Not writing
it would cause even more mental distress, and maybe more physical
problems. Writing this book will get me well. So Write Well Me
becomes write to get myself well.

Fast forward a bit. My doctor and I have been keeping an eye on the cyst, and my last exam didn't show anything. "The cyst has shrunk!" declared Dr. Kleinman. By the way, that exam was at the end of January.

With me so far?

Fast forward to two weeks ago and switch gears to the novel. I decided I just couldn't write in that larger story any more; I was done with it, and wanted no part of it. However, after my trip to Virginia Beach and being part of Laura's retreat of fabulous women, I resolved to write every day. I got home from Virginia Beach on Friday night, and I started my writing routine up on Sunday (and I wrote about that here).

That night, swear to God, I started having pain. I took some Tylenol, went to bed, and pretty much didn't think any more about it. I woke up Monday morning, pain still there. It wasn't any worse than cramps, so I still didn't think much about it.

However, as the morning wore on, my pain got worse and worse until I was having trouble breathing and moving. Dr. K. insisted I be seen by a doctor, so I drove myself to his office. By the time I got there, I was in so much pain he couldn't do an exam. He sent me to the ER, where, after four hours of waiting, I had a sonogram and a CT scan. The cyst was back and measured about 5-6 cm (for those of you who aren't intimately familiar with female "stuff," when a woman dilates to 10cm, she's ready to give birth. The cyst was half the size of a baby's head. Lovely).

Two days later, I had surgery to remove the cyst as well as my left ovary. According to the surgeon and Dr. K., it was "all mashed in there together and definitely needed to come out." (As one of my clients said, "Seven years of medical school, and all they can come up with is a term to describe potatoes?")

I can't help but think that it's WAY too much of a coincidence when I made the decision to cut out a major part of my novel (and that part being the piece of the novel that I believed was directly related to my state of health), the health issues recurred on a major scale, and I had that piece cut out of me.

Now I'm down to Ilsa's story, which is lovely, by the way. Since I'm just working on this as the only story element, I'm down to about 12,000 words. Nothing near what I need for a novel. So, I'll probably make this the feature story in a collection of short stories: Out Of Nothing and Other Short Stories, by Dawn M. Goldberg.

I'm thinking that perhaps there could have been an easier way to get to this place. ;->

February 22, 2009

My life has been a little topsy-turvy lately, and one of the temporary casualties of the topsy-turviness is my novel. After my week with Laura and the Attraction Marketing and Money Mindset posse (more about that this week), I decided I really needed/wanted to get back to writing - for me - on a daily, consistent basis.

While I may not have been actively working on my book, I have been thinking about it. I've been playing with the idea of taking the story within the bigger story and making it a separate novel/short story altogether. Or maybe making the container story much smaller. Or leaving the existing structure as is and working on that.

This morning I decided to play with taking the internal story out of the container story (which, in its current, original form, is the much larger of the two stories). As I was copying and pasting Isabel's story into a separate document, I caught glimpses of the other story, the container story, as I call it.

If I wasn't clear before, I am now. I can't work in that bigger, container story. It served its purpose: it gave me Ilsa's story. And, probably even bigger than that, it helped with some of the healing I needed to do.

So why remove the bigger story and essentially start over? Because that container story is too much my story. Hence, why it was therapeutic. But I don't want to work in my story any more. It's too painful. I'm done with that, and I want to move on.

Also, I love working in Ilsa's story, seeing her world, bringing it to life, trying to figure out how she's going to get out... I'm excited about the characters, all of them. There's complexity, life, color... None of that is present in the larger container story. Quite the opposite.

I'm following my instincts and I'm temporarily scrapping the larger story, and I'll work solely in Ilsa's world. I say temporarily because I'm not doing anything silly like burning the printed manuscripts I have or erasing the files on my hard drive. Perhaps that will come later. But right now, I've separated the two, and I'm happy with that.

February 11, 2009

I watched Bedknobs and Broomsticks last weekend. I was recovering from a cold, couldn't work anymore, and the number of movies on my DVR that I haven't watched was starting to stress me out. (You don't get much more anal than I. Hence, why I went back and changed "than me" to "than I" when Miss Stacy Brice called me out on it.)

It was cute, although at times a little slow (sorry, Antonette). One thing caught my eye, though. Miss Price (played by a very lovely Angela Lansbury) has sent off for witch lessons from a witch correspondence school. She's found out by the three orphan children staying with her, and so she has to come up with something to keep their silence. (She's a good witch, she is.)

She mentions a special traveling spell she got as a bonus for signing up for the witch correspondence course. The children happily agree, and she imbues a bedknob with the traveling spell, paving the way for traveling beds throughout the movie.

I was struck by that. Even a Disney movie (and I don't know if the original 1943 book describes this marketing technique) can teach a thing or two about marketing.

Get the prospective buyer to commit by offering a bonus! Whether that's some freebie book, Ginsu steak knives, chocolates or a traveling spell. Upsell! But wait! There's more!

I know that last sounds like I hate upsells. I don't; they're a smart marketing tool. I just think it's funny that they're everywhere I turn.

October 01, 2008

A couple of weeks ago I had the extreme honor of attending AssistU's Community Recognition Awards in Vegas. (For a complete recap, see Stacy's post. Please note that I did not shoot an AK-47, nor did I shoplift anything. Other than that, our experiences were very similar.)

As part of the ceremony, both Stacy and I were gifted with one of the best books ever, Life Is a Verb by Patti Digh. The core of the book is about engaging with life and six practices for intentional living. And what do you know? One way to go through these practices is to write. Heck, Digh even recommends we WRITE IN THE BOOK. Shudder. Shudder some more.

Actually, funny enough, the VAs who were present at the CRAs all took time to write in my book and in Stacy's. I have words of love sprinkled throughout the pages of this book that's supposed to help me engage fully with life.

It won't surprise anyone close to me how much this book resonates with me. What are the six practices for intentional living? Intensity, inclusion, integrity, intimacy, intuition, and intention. Nope. No surprise whatsoever.

I've stepped completely into the book, and I wanted to share a piece of the following poem Digh quotes as an introduction to the intensity section:

I asked her if I could wear nail polishand she said honeyshe calls me that sometimesshe said you can do just exactlywhat you want toThanks God I saidAnd is it even okay if I don't paragraphmy lettersSweetcakes God saidwho knows where she picked that upwhat I'm telling you isYes Yes Yes

~ Kaylin Haught, "God Says Yes to Me"

I love the writing style. (Yes, even someone who teaches writing can enjoy something that isn't punctuated.) I love the almost-silly nature ("who knows where she picked that up").

September 24, 2008

How lucky am I? I make a chance remark on my blog on a story about High Point University, and author Donna Cutting gets in touch with me. See, she's written about High Point in her book, The Celebrity Experience, as an example of an organization who provides top-notch customer service, what she calls the Celebrity Experience.

She and I chat, she sends me a copy of her book, and I pick it up and start reading while I'm waiting for the summer camp bus. It was frequently late, and I had lots of opportunity to read. I actually looked forward to picking up my girls from the bus AND the bus being late so that I could read more of Donna's book.

It's very well-written (gee, I wonder why I like it) with an organized format. Each chapter covers one aspect of providing that celebrity experience to clients and customers. One of the reasons I like this book so much is that Donna gives very detailed examples. She doesn't just give some generic statement and expect the reader to figure it out on her own. Donna's done extensive research (I would stay at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, a place I would have never dreamed of visiting, in a heartbeat - just because of the experience they provide to their guests), and she's broken down the celebrity experience into manageable steps.

Each chapter lays out five or six action steps of a particular principle she's illuminating. Each step comes complete with a real-life example. She gives you these principles, action steps, questions to ask yourself, and numerous examples.

I have to say that this book really made me think about what I can do differently in my own business. How can I provide WOW moments to my customers? What are the unWOW experiences my customers are tolerating? It reminded me that business, like writing, is all about the customer (reader).

Everything wrapped up perfectly and neatly at the end. Quick synopsis (caution: spoiler) - Ellen is divorcing her husband because his inventions have depleted their life savings, and their house is mortgaged to the hilt. Ellen and her two daughters will have to move out of her beloved house, and she can't seem to get past it. At the beginning of the book, she unsuccessfully tries to burn down her house so that Jordan (she of the perky shortness), buyer of Ellen's house, can't have it. In the last five pages, the house really does burn down, she discovers she truly does love her husband, and one of her husband's inventions hits it big time, and now they're set for life financially. Does it always have to wrap up so neatly? Does it have to turn out perfectly?

Okay, I guess that's not too bad. I was just annoyed at the end with the sitcom-like wrap-up that I wanted to vent. It wasn't a bad read.

Now onto the next. I haven't read pure fantasy in a while (Kim Harrison and Laurell K. Hamilton are urban fantasy). I'm even starting a brand-new author. Shudder. Shadowmarch by Tad Williams. Even from the first page, I felt like I'd come home. (And I love the cover pic of the castle. Dawn loves castles.)

August 30, 2008

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading. :-)

House & Home by Kathleen McCleary is the first advanced reading copy from BEA I've started reading. This is McCleary's first book, and I'm interested for so many reasons: 1) how will the writing be, and 2) it's not just the famous, already-successful authors who get published.

I'm only on page two, and I've already been stopped cold. I don't know if I'll be able to read any further.

Ellen instantly mistrusted Jordan, quickly assessing her straight blond hair, cut in the usual suburban-mom bob, her small size (she stood barely five foot three, Ellen guessed), and her persistently upbeat tone of voice... Jordan had a heart-shaped face, with a sharp, almost elfin chin, china blue eyes, and a spattering of pale freckles across her nose. She had probably been a cheerleader, Ellen thought, and a sorority sister. Ellen, as a petite person herself, felt strongly that small people should avoid perkiness at all costs.

Harumph. I'm 5' 1" and very perky. I take offense.

(Author's Note: Despite her obvious prejudice against short, perky people, McCleary has a great website.)

August 26, 2008

I was reading the August issue of The Writer, and "Conflict: What Your Readers Want and Your Fiction Needs," of course, caught my eye. William Kowalski cites examples of creating conflict from The Great Gatsby and Gone With the Wind. Almost half the article is dedicated to these two novels.

Sometime later that day, I pick up Beginnings, Middles, & Ends, which I've been reading off and on for a couple of months. The very first thing I read (from where I had left off probably weeks and weeks ago), is on planning for the climax (as part of the Middle). Guess which two novels the author cites? Yep. The Great Gatsby and Gone With the Wind.

I'm comfy in bed, in my pajamas, and I actually get out from under the covers, go downstairs to my office, and look up the article in The Writer. Maybe they were written by the same person? Nope. Entirely two different people. (Nancy Kress is the author of Beginnings, Middles, & Ends.)

I never thought about these two novels - together - as being iconic works of writing. Sure, we all had to read The Great Gatsby, and I loved Gone With the Wind. I just didn't expect to see them thrown together twice (in the same day in two different sources) as the end-all-be-all example for writing.

You writers out there: what do you think about Kowalski's and Kress's use of these two novels?

August 23, 2008

I haven't read much "fun" books lately as I've been vetting books for my Writing Your Voice Alive class. The idea of WYVA (I now even pronounce that way: why-vuh) is to help people discover and strengthen their writing voice. One of the ways we do that is to look at other people's writing and their voice and dissect how they do it.

So, I've had to figure out what would be the best books. Short stories were a must as 1. I didn't want to assign a novel (horrors from senior English) and 2. I wanted people to get a sense of the author's voice across several different stories.

Here's what I was reading and what didn't make the cut:

The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie. It's not that I didn't like it (and it was fun rereading Agatha Christie), but there wasn't enough variation in the stories. It was really like reading a novel. However, there was one piece that stuck out particularly: "It happened a long time ago--five years to be exact--but it's sort of haunted me ever since. The smiling, bright top part of it--and the hidden gruesomeness underneath." How true is that for so many things? The smiling bright top hides the gruesomeness.

The Best of O. Henry: The Gift of the Magi and Twelve Other Stories. Through the years, I'm sure I've read dozens of O. Henry stories, and, of course, "The Gift of the Magi" is familiar to most people who went through high school English. But ack! More depressing stories I've never read. I forced myself to read four, and I gave up. English literature be damned. I need happy!

Here's what did make the cut:

How I Got This Way by Patrick McManus. Talk about voice. It doesn't get much stronger than this. I'm going to look forward to teaching with this book. On a snarky side note, I hate the cover. It's a picture of the author with a gorilla. Talk about not judging a book by its cover. I'm proud of myself that I was able to get past the gorilla.

Not the End of the World by Kate Atkinson. While there's some depressing stuff in this book, it's not nearly as bad as O. Henry. There's a reason for it in Atkinson's stories. AND they're not all depressing. I also liked the sci-fi aspect of some of the stories (but not so way out there to turn off those who don't touch sci-fi).

Once I had these figured out, I was able to read fun books. First on the list was a true summer read. (With a title like A Summer Affair, what else could it be?) It was so good (and so nice to take a break from the writing program designer gig) that I finished it in two days. My only complaint was that the point of view wasn't consistent. Most of the time, the point of view was from the main character, Claire. Every so often, though, we'd get little vignettes of other people's point of view, probably so that they could tell us things Claire couldn't. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't seamless either.

Then onto Lady Jane by Norma Lee Clark. (It's out of print, so no Amazon link.) I read this over and over when I was an adolescent, and so there was a certain comfort in reading it again. It's your standard romance, which I don't usually go for, but I really liked this one. Interestingly, and something I didn't know when I read it more than twenty years ago, is that the language is very Austen-like. Hmmm. Maybe that's my saving grace. Yeah. I'm reading it because it's like Jane Austen. We'll go with that reason.

I finished Lady Jane earlier this evening, so now I have to figure out my next book. I need something light, entertaining, and mind-escaping. I'll let you know what I come up with.

As a writer, I keep thinking, "Man, if I were Kim Harrison, I'd be lurking and making notes! These people are coming up with some great ideas!"

Along those same lines, it occurred to me that there might be a time where readers are debating on the social strata and magical rules of the world I'm writing in my book right now. That's a mind blowing thought!

Finally, as a gift to those of you who are members of any on-line community, please enjoy the following:

One to change the light bulb and to post that the light bulb has been changed.

Fourteen to share similar experiences of changing light bulbs and how the light bulb could have been changed differently.

Seven to caution about the dangers of changing light bulbs.

Seven more to point out spelling/grammar errors in posts about changing light bulbs.

Three to correct spelling/grammar errors.

Six to argue over whether it's "lightbulb" or "light bulb."

Another six to condemn those six as stupid.

Fifteen to claim experience in the lighting industry and give the correct spelling.

Nineteen to post that this group is not about light bulbs and to please take this discussion to a light bulb (or lightbulb) forum.

Eleven to defend the posting to the group saying that we all use light bulbs, and therefore the posts are relevant to this group.

Thirty six to debate which method of changing light bulbs is superior, where to buy the best light bulbs, what brand of light bulbs work best for this technique and what brands are faulty.

Seven to post URLs where one can see examples of different light bulbs.

Four to post that the URLs were posted incorrectly and then post the corrected URL.

Three to post about links they found from the URLs that are relevant to this group which makes light bulbs relevant to this group.

Thirteen to link all posts to date, quote them in their entirety including all headers and signatures, and add "Me too."

Five to post to the group that they will no longer post because they cannot handle the light bulb controversy.

Four to say, "Didn't we go through this already a short time ago?"

Thirteen to say, "Do a Google search on light bulbs before posting questions about light bulbs."

Three to tell a funny story about their cat and light bulb.

AND

One group lurker to respond to the original post 6 months from now with something unrelated and start it all over again!

June 27, 2008

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading. :

I finished Blood Noir, the newest Anita Blake book by Laurell K. Hamilton. I was a little disappointed by it. The writing at first felt forced, or maybe it was just the dialogue.

The first few chapters were awkward, a rookie problem, and Hamilton is so not a rookie. Maybe she sped too fast through the 16th book in the series.

I motioned at the mountains. There were hotels and fast-food places tucked in near the road, but it wasn't close enough to ruin the view. A river cut along the left-hand side of the road, all silver shallows and sparkling rapids, set in all that green, all those trees. "This is prettier than the Smokies in Tennessee."

"Well, it's the Blue Ridge Mountains," [Jason] said matter-of-factly.

I had a smart thought. "You grew up here, so it's not spectacular to you, it's just normal."

"Yeah, and have you ever noticed where it's beautiful, there's a lot of pretty, but not a lot of jobs. Unless you worked for the university."

"University?" I made it a question.

"University of North Carolina at Asheville."

That whole exchange leaves me with a "Huh?" feeling. I realize Hamilton is trying to give us more information about Jason, but I don't think any of this tells me anything I really need to know about Jason. It lends nothing to the story later on. And that whole "'University?'" That just sits wrong with me. It feels fake and forced.

But it got better, and I was happy to be further along in the Anita Blake story arc.

Next on the list was a long-lost book that took me months to find. With the help of the coolest site on earth, Stump the Bookseller, I found this book as well as another from my childhood. For $2, you enter as much as info as you can remember about a book, and very nice people help you find it. It took a couple of months, but then I was rewarded with full titles and authors. I promptly bought both.

June 17, 2008

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading. :-)

I happily finished The Outlaw Demon Wails, and, of course, I'm crushed that it's over. Ya think Kim's got the next one done? Nah. I don't think so either.

(Remind me when I'm working on my fiction series to hurry my butt up to get these books out there for my raving fans who can't wait for the next book.)

I really did enjoy it, although I was disappointed that we didn't find out who killed Kisten. I'm used to the mysteries being wrapped up by the last page, but this time we have to hang on for the next book. Think Kim's finished the next one now?

So, it's on to Blood Noir by Laurell K. Hamilton. Since I've been manically reading the Anita Blake books, I can shun Standard Dawn Reading Procedure and not reread her last book. I can go straight to go, collect $200, and start reading Blood Noir.

June 11, 2008

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading. :-)

While I was at BEA, I finished both All Together Dead and From Dead to Worse. They were wonderful, and the perfect companions to have in a strange place. Since I came back with signed copies of For a Few Demons More and The Outlaw Demon Wails, I read those next. (Standard Dawn Reading Procedure: For a Few Demons More was a reread to get me back in the loop before reading the new The Outlaw Demon Wails.)

Of course, as I'm back in Rachel Morgan's world, I can't help but think of my video Q&A session with Kim Harrison. I did pretty well for off the cuff, but, geez, I can sure think of more intelligent questions now. If Kim were here (whether or not we were videoing), I'd ask really smart questions like

So, yeah, Trent can be a slime, but isn't there a small chance he and Rachel might get together?

If not, is David a possibility? (You can tell I'm really missing Kisten here!)

June 05, 2008

Geez. Isn't the conference (or at least Dawn's ramblings on about ) over? No wonder I'm so tired. I was there forever!

So it's no wonder that I took things pretty easy on the last day of BEA. I wasn't the only one taking it easy. I had more, deeper conversations with people on Sunday than I did any other day. Vendors were tired and ready to go home. It wasn't unusual to see someone looking wan and sitting down at his or her booth. It was a great opportunity to strike up a conversation. "Oh, you look ready to go home! How's the show been for you?" and so on.

I picked up yet more books. Oh! I haven't even talked about the books! (Or have I?) Well, anyway, all these publishers are giving out ARCs (Advanced Reading Copies or galleys) of books that are coming out this fall. The idea is that book buyers pick up the books and figure out if they want to order any. There are just stacks and stacks and stacks of books free for the taking. I've shipped home SIX boxes of books. Once they arrive, it will be like Christmas!

I wandered around and stopped at some booths I didn't get to before. I said good-bye to my new friends as they all started scurrying back to their homes.

I'd given myself enough margin to spend time with some AssistU friends. Lovely Mia picked me up at my hotel and toured me around Venice Beach. I was starting to drag, and I worried that I'd be poor company for Mia (especially since I was faded when she picked me up from the airport on Tuesday). We got to Venice Beach, parked in the safest parking lot around (as told to us by the attendant), and I changed in the back of her car. For some reason, Mia thought that was quite hilarious. I still don't see the humor. :)

Hilarious or not, just changing out of business attire from the conference into a casual shirt and shorts completely shifted my energy. I wasn't tired any longer, and I was quite perky seeing what Venice Beach had to offer (and it offers quite a bit, I tell you. I haven't seen so much sun bathing, bikinis, and dancing roller bladers in, well, ever).

After our tour, we met up with some other AssistU VAs and had a 3 1/2-hour lunch. What a perfect ending! Another group of fabulous ladies, another experience of feeling supported and loved, and an all-around incredible trip. (Left to right: Lil ol' me - funny how I keep popping up in these pictures, Therese Hall, Laura Jo Richins, Rachael Davila, Mia Chambers, and Gillian Zali (she's working on a website!)

Then it was to the airport for my first red-eye trip back to Maryland. ::::cross-eyed::::: I don't recommend red-eyes.

Now that I'm home with my camera, and I can add some pictures from the beginning of my trip (so you don't have to put up with any more cell phone shots).I told you the LA Convention Center was huge.

June 04, 2008

During the prep session on Thursday, the expert panelists suggested we use Friday to scope out the publishers, grab catalogs, and see which publishers were great fits for the books we're writing. Saturday morning, they said, was the time to pitch the publishers. Mornings aren't so crazy, and the people in the booth aren't tired of being here - yet.

I had my list, and I was ready to go. It was a little harder than I thought to go up to people and talk about my book. What I ended up doing was talking to them about what they were publishing and if my book was a fit. It wasn't a pitch per se, but it was my finding out which publishing houses are likely candidates to publish my book.

I got that out of the way :) and went back to the big author signing area to see the top author on my book-signing list, Kim Harrison. When I got up to Kim, I told her that of all the 530+ authors, she was at the top of my list to see. She graciously smiled and then pointed to a hand-written sign advertising her video Q&A later that afternoon at 2:00. "I'd much rather handle questions from real people than the canned questions they give me," she said. I told her I'd try to come, and I went to stand in Philippa Gregory's line (because I love Stacy, and Gregory is Stacy's fave author).

I wandered around the downstairs area, and got an appointment with a distribution company. They don't publish; they distribute, so they're not a great match for me. It was still a good opportunity for me to practice my pitch and learn even more about the publishing industry.

More wandering led me back to the AuthorSmart booth. My energy and blood sugar levels were low, and I was looking forward to lunch. Lo and behold, the food workers walked out on strike at 11:45 a.m. that day. Sigh.

Lucky for me (and for them--I hope they got what they needed out of the strike), they opened back up around 1:30. What to do? Eat lunch and get my energy and blood sugar levels back up, or hoof it back over to the other end of the convention center for the video Q&A with Kim Harrison? Decisions, decisions. I ate and enjoyed conversations with a wonderful group of women. Again, decisions, decisions. What clinched it for me was that almost all of the women at the table had nonfiction books. Since I'm a fiction writer, I figured the best place to be was at Kim Harrison's Q&A. Off I went.

I showed up, expecting a room full of fans. Nope. I was the only one who showed up. Kim and her publicist explained that the video Q&A was last minute and they hadn't had much chance to publicize it. I gave them my list of questions consisting of typical writing questions ("How did you get started?") and specific questions about her book series. The publicist told me that they wanted to keep the questions strictly to the book series and the characters. Okie fine with me.

Since I was the only one who showed up, they put us in director chairs opposite each other. The idea was that I'd ask the questions, they'd get the audio, they'd film video, they'd film video again, do some editing, etc. As they were setting up lights and cameras, Kim took the time to answer my writing questions. We talked back and forth, and the camera guy said, "Stop! Not yet! Don't talk yet! You guys are great!" We explained that we weren't allowed to talk about writing, so we were getting it out of the way there. Kim was very gracious about answering my questions.

Gulp moment? When Kim asked what I was doing at BEA, and I told her I was a writer. She smiled big and said, "Oh, really? I thought you were a book buyer or something." Uh, no. :)

Then came the next gulp moment. "What's your book about?"

First thing out of my mouth? "I didn't think I'd have to tell you!"

Yeah, Dawn's looking quite the professional. I gathered my wits and told her the synopsis. Unlike some of the publishers I talked to, her eyes didn't glaze over when I described the fantasy substory. I then told her, "Because of you and other authors, my next book will be the beginning of a series. What you've done with your characters is amazing, and I want to have that same effect."

Again, Kim was very nice and gracious as I gushed on and on like schoolgirl.

We got started, and the producer and publicist decided that they liked us interacting so much that they were going to do the Q&A differently. They put us next to each other, and we just started in. I asked my questions about her characters and her books, and frantically searched for more on the spur of the moment. Finally, I ran out of questions, and I just kind of gave a "cut" motion. Nobody said or did anything, so I wrapped up: "Thanks, Kim, for all you that you've brought to the world with your books. I'm honored to have been here with you, and thank you for spending time with me." THEN, they kindly wrapped it up.

The producer (from Harper-Collins) told me that I was wonderful. Kim's publicist told me I should have my own talk show. :) I'll let you know if ABC comes calling.

As you can imagine, I was floating on air. Kim's general manager asked me to write down my information, and I could barely remember my name. (Amazing how I could be so calm and collected on camera, and the minute it's over I become a true babbling idiot.) Before they went on to do some of those canned questions, they took a break to take a picture of the two of us. Kim is stunningly beautiful! All in all, I spent a wonderful hour with Kim and had an experience I will never, ever forget.

I immediately called Chris and gushed on about 5 million miles a minute. He was excited, and he got how big this was for me.

Back to the AuthorSmart booth, and Trish Avery of The Write Woman Speaks recorded my slightly less manic (but not much) retelling of the experience. I'll have that for you as soon as I get it from Trish. (Thank you, Trish!)

Back at the ranch we toured the area (thanks, Jan!), and we ate dinner in Malibu. I finally got to see the beach! That night I fell into bed. I talked with Stacy and told her about my day, but my retelling was not up to snuff. She'll have to wait for Trish's recording to get the full impact. :)

June 03, 2008

Things got so busy at BEA that I didn't have a chance to finish Part Two! Heck, so much has happened, I'm hoping I can get Parts Three and Four done.

Back to Friday.... Friday, Friday, Friday. Hmm.

Oh yeah! Now that I think about it, my BEA excursions were pretty much over after the Jane Yolen book signing. As I was walking back to the AuthorSmart booth, I ran into them. Departure time was 4:00, not 5:00 like I'd thought. Good thing I ran into them! (And what are the odds of that? Thousands of people here, and I run into my group on the escalator. Thank you, Universe!)

As we got back to the hotel, a few gals wanted to go to the yacht club for a drink. The instant camaraderie we developed was absolutely amazing. We formed instant friendships, and many of us felt we had found kindred souls in each other. My tendency in a big group is to sit back and observe for a while. I stay pretty quiet. (Okay, I know there are many of you out there that just can't believe that. Really, I do. I can chat up a storm with a stranger one-on-one, or chat up a storm in front of a group I'm very comfortable with. A group where I'm not so familiar? I hang back and get the lay of the land first.) At one point during cocktail hour, Carol turned to me and said, "You have an amazing sense of warmth that just envelops us all." Pretty cool considering I thought I was being quiet as a mouse. :)

After cocktails, we met back at the hotel with the whole group for a debriefing. Some women had had some phenomenal successes with publishers asking for their proposals. Others of us were doing reconnaissance. All in all, it was a successful day, as you can see from the tired, happy smiles.

It's very quick and fun. Warning: they only show each picture once, so if you get distracted by a cool song on iTunes and look to see what song is playing, you'll miss the smile.

(If you're paying attention, you might wonder if I just recently finished reading A Whole New Mind why I didn't list it in What Dawn's Reading Today. Simple. I have books spread throughout the house that I read. The book I list in What Dawn's Reading Today is my main book, the one I read at breakfast and lunch and in the easy chair. Simple.)

May 31, 2008

The first day at BEA was amazing. Imagine: you walk into the world's biggest bookstore on earth, and you get to see the best-selling titles along with soon-to-be released books that most people haven't even seen yet. Better yet? You get advance copies of these books FREE! And there are slick catalogs, free stuff, chances to win cool prizes. Oh, oh, oh! And --- authors are doing book signings. And you get to see them. In some cases, if they're nice, hug them and get pictures of them!

So, I was a bit overwhelmed at first, but in a good way. (Remember, big, big bookstore!) I did my usual lay low and get a feel for the place. Some of the gals I was with were really good about chatting up the publishers at the booths. I can't jump in like that. It wasn't until a couple of hours later that I made my first pitch (they don't do the kind of books I'm writing. And that's fine. Now I know!).

One of the highlights of the day was getting my Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair book signed by Laurie Perry. She's been kind enough to correspond with me the past couple of months, and she was just the warmest, friendliest person I'd ever met (read -- Southern). She invited me to come back after the book signing and chat. She was just wonderful!

I also got to see Louise Hay and get her DVD You Can Heal Your Life signed. That was completely unexpected. I was walking toward the Hay House booth to check it out, and there she was! Cool!

In the last stop on the see-the-authors-tour, I had to go to the main author signing area. Both Laurie and Louise had been signing in their publishers' booth. This author signing area (which was twenty minutes away - in the same building. I'm telling you; this is the biggest building I've ever been in) was huge. I stood in line for Jane Yolen at Anastasia's request. As a matter of fact, while I was walking those twenty minutes, I was chatting with her on the phone. She kept saying, "Hurry up, Mommy! Hurry up! Get to Jane Yolen's table. Are you there yet?" I'm so glad I was able to get Jane's new book signed for her!

Since Poison Study was Snyder's first work, it felt like she took ten years to write it, polish it, and make it perfect. Then, it got such critical acclaim that she needed to come out with two more books in the series. Boom. Boom.

Magic Study, and Fire Study even more so, felt rushed and not as well-thought-out. Poison Study was more a character novel with some cool suspense. We really got to know Yelena, Valek, and the others. Fire Study had enough plot and action in it for three books, and little character depth. Snyder relied a little too much on her original character development from her first book and ignored any such thing in her next two.

Specific nits:

A character uses the words "wah-la" the way we would use voila. Since this is a fantasy story, maybe Snyder doesn't want to use French words. That's fine with me. But then later, a different character uses the phrase "coup de grace." I then figure Snyder, like I first thought, didn't want to use French words and then forgot her own rule, or (even worse) doesn't know the word "voila." The reader shouldn't have to wonder.

A character does something treacherous. We know it was treacherous. The other characters know it was treacherous. But no one ever calls him on it. No one says, "Hey, buster, why did you betray us?" They just go on with their journey. Um, did we forget something?

Off with their heads! I'd happily go back and read Poison Study (for the third time), but I doubt I'll ever revisit Magic Study and Fire Study.

It's taken me a few days to go on to another book. One might think I'd race to a new one, but after a difficult break-up, it's hard to commit again. Lee loaned me Heart-Shaped Box, and I almost started it, but with my trip to BEA and side trips to wonkiness, I'm rebounding to Charlaine Harris. I'll reread All Together Dead and then make my way to her newest, From Dead to Worse.

May 23, 2008

On Tuesday I leave for BEA (Book Expo America). As with any trip, I'm working (too) hard to get everything done before I leave. While I'm in L.A., I won't be working (not for Write Well U or AssistU at least), and since I'm an organizational zealot, I have this urge to get every possible thing on any of the spinning plates completed.

Along with the zealous urges, I'm also scared beyond belief. One of the insane activities I've been partaking in is creating a sell sheet to hand to potential agents and publishers. Yikes! Talk about putting myself out there. It's one thing (and a scary enough thing at that) to tell people you're writing book. It's completely another to HAND SOMEONE A PIECE OF PAPER WITH INFORMATION ABOUT THAT BOOK. (Oh, and to send them to a website with info about said book. Another insane activity - look for a website to magically appear this weekend!)

So I get scared, which leads me to wonky. I haven't really discussed wonkiness before, although I've alluded to it as "funkiness." Being wonky (and this is a Dawn definition, by the way. You won't find this in the OED) is waaaaaay beyond funky. It's that place I go to when I feel like I'm drowning, reaching my hand up, and there's no one there to save me. And I continue to sink. And to feel isolated, alone, and little.

Some people out there have to put up with the wonkiness. Chris is legally obligated as he signed a document almost fifteen years ago that said he'd save me from wonkiness (and as fair turnabout, I agreed to never root for the Dallas Cowboys). My friends have gathered around me. I'm trying hard to reach out for help when I need it (anyone for a bit of wonky today?) in order to stave off wonkiness.

I was talking with a fairly new friend today, and I told him about my wonky day yesterday. He said, "Hey, I'm right here with you."

"Welcome to the crazy train," I said.

(While it's not "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne, "Crazy Babies" is playing on iTunes as I write this. Pretty cool, huh?)

May 14, 2008

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading. :-)

I finished Magic Study last week, and although I've had Fire Study for several days, I've only just now started it.

Magic Study was good, but it started out a little slowly. It felt like the author had some trouble getting back into her characters. They were weak, and I just didn't care about them. Poison Study started out strong right out of the gate, and finished a winner. Magic Study felt like the horse was just lazily trotting out of his stall. Luckily, the horse gained speed fairly quickly, and the character development improved. The suspense was well-done, and I raced through it. I forgive it for any trottings at the beginning.

I'm only a page and a half into Fire Study, so I don't have a feel for it yet.

And I came to the end of the Anita Blake series, until Blood Noir is published this fall. I swear I was depressed.

Martha Grimes to the rescue with The Deer Leap. After that, it wasn't easy. From my shelf of unread books, I needed a book that I could fall into and would keep me safe. I had already read Poison Study, and I had its sequel, Magic Study, still unread. I had enjoyed Poison Study quite a bit, and I knew it would give me that instant book blanket I needed: suspenseful plot, great characters, and a need to keep reading. I finished Poison Study in a day, and now it's on to Magic Study. And I won't get too depressed when I'm done with Magic Study, as evidently there's a third in the series, Fire Study. Sometimes, it pays not to read everything on one's unread shelf.

March 31, 2008

Gargoyle wrote about the inanity of people calling in to a radio show that asked about what books they had read recently and couldn't get out of their heads. His complaint was that these callers couldn't explain the connection between these books and what kept those books in their heads.

He compared their feeble attempts at talking about these books to reviewing a meal at a restaurant:

That is not a review. It would almost pass as a shopping list for the condemned man.

What
did you like about your meal? Did you like how it was served? Was the
mix of flavours to your liking? Was it cooked to your satisfaction?
Was the cost reasonable? How was the restaurant ambience? Would you
consider eating at the restaurant again?

Simply saying "this book is about..." does not constitute a review of it.

So let's see if we can do better and help Gargoyle out... What book have you read recently that you can't get out of your head? Why? What's the connection between this book and you?

March 11, 2008

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading. :-)

I finally finished Northanger Abbey. It was a trial, and if it hadn't been Jane Austen, I wouldn't have stuck with it.

I have gotten better about not finishing books that don't grab me. It used to be that I could count on a hand with missing fingers the number of books I wouldn't finish. Now, I've realized life is short, I want to love what I'm doing, and bad books aren't worth my time.

Is Northanger Abbey worthless. Nooooooo, but....

Northanger Abbey is one of Austen's earliest works, and it shows. Her characters aren't as well developed as those in her other books, and she spends five pages on Catherine trying to find Isabella to show her her newest boy interest. (Sounds a bit like junior high, huh? Yep, that's what I thought, too.) The last fifty pages are the best in the book, and they made it somewhat worthwhile to have slogged through the novel. I can now say I've read Northanger Abbey, and I never have to read it again, something I would never say (the never reading part) about Pride and Prejudice.

Now I'm on to the next Anita Blake book, Obsidian Butterfly. I'm trying not to rush through it, but I have spent the last four hours reading. Oops.

January 31, 2008

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading. :-)

I finished The Hunt and Bloody Bones, and before I weakened and bought the next Anita Blake book, I started Northanger Abbey. As always, I read the introduction before I started Chapter 1, and I learned more about Jane Austen. Northanger Abbey is actually a younger novel, although it was published after her death. I haven't gotten very far into it, but the forecast looks clear.

Because it's about Austen, and the writing is excellent, I was hooked. Here's the beginning of Ms. Place's post on a film adaptation of Mansfield Park:

I’ve wracked my brains trying to come up with kind things to say about
this 2007 production of Mansfield Park. ‘Nice mansion.’ ‘Pretty
garden.’ ‘Glad they shot this film in England.’ ‘Where can I get a red
Jezebel parasol like Mary Crawford’s?’ ‘Cute pug.’ ‘Great cleavage.’

January 22, 2008

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading. :-)

I didn't finish The Hunt as quickly as I thought I would. I was having a grumpy day a few days ago, and the only thing that sounded good was to read the next Anita Blake book, The Lunatic Cafe.

Bad Dawn. I read The Lunatic Cafe, but before I would let myself start Bloody Bones, I HAD to finish The Hunt.

Really. And I did.

It wasn't bad. An interesting enough mystery with fairly likable characters, but none of the draw of Laurell K. Hamilton's plot, characters, or writing.

So, two books for the price of one "What Dawn Is Reading Today" post, and I'm off to Bloody Bones. After this, I have two classics to delve into: Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey and James Joyce's The Dubliners.

Classics. Shocking, I know, but if you review my books posts, you'll see that every so often I enrich my mind.

January 17, 2008

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading. :-)

I finished The Laughing Corpse while I was visiting my 83-year-old grandparents in Chicago. It was a quiet, long weekend, so I had plenty of time to read (and cross-stitch and watch football - Go Packers!). I had only brought the one book as I was trying to pack as light as a girly-girl possibly can. I finished The Laughing Corpse Saturday afternoon, and I put a trip to Borders on the schedule after dinner. I bought Circus of the Damned, the next Anita Blake book in the series (and thank goodness it's a long series!). Grandpa suggested I buy the next one after that, but I was sure I wouldn't finish this one before my flight home on Monday, and, besides, I wasn't sure if I had room for one extra paperback, much less two.

I finished Circus of the Damned Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Sigh.

I did not go back to the bookstore for another book. I knew I could get through the rest of the weekend and the flight without an Anita Blake book. Plus, I had brought a writing book, a journal, my laptop, and my iPod for additional sources of keeping-Dawn-busyness. (And you wonder why I couldn't fit an extra paperback.)

So, I get home, and I go for my stack of books. Another Christmas gift from Chris, again. This one, The Hunt by Jennifer Sturman. It's not bad, but, boy, am I reading it fast to get to the next Anita Blake book, The Lunatic Cafe. Yep, I've made a trip to the bookstore, and bought the next TWO books. I'm set. I just have to finish The Hunt first. I'm sure you'll be hearing from me in a day or two. :)

January 11, 2008

I'm readingThe Laughing Corpse, and the difference between this and The Vampire of New York is amazing. Funny enough, I read a passage today that mirrored the passage I quoted from The Vampire of New York. Both describe a police officer. Both plots concern a murder. But they're both done very differently, with different effect.

To refresh your memory, read the passage from The Vampire of New Yorkhere.

Now, read this passage from The Laughing Corpse:

He knelt in the middle of the pale brown carpet. His thick hands, encased in surgical gloves, were on his thighs. His black hair was cut so short it left his ears sort of stranded on either side of a large blunt face. He saw me and stood. He was six-eight, built big like a wrestler. The canopied bed behind him suddenly looked small.

Dolph was head of the police's newest task force, the spook squad. Official title was the Regional Preternatural Investigation Team, R-P-I-T, pronounced "rip it." It handled all supernatural crime. It was a place to dump the troublemakers. I never wondered what Zerbrowski had done to get on the spook squad. His sense of humor was too strange and absolutely merciless. But Dolph. He was the perfect policeman. I had always sort of figured he had offended someone high up, offended them by being too good at his job. Now that I could believe.

We get description in this passage, too, but it's interspersed with action. The description doesn't drone on and on. We get what we need when we need it. We don't get a lot of information that doesn't do us any good right now.

I want to read The Laughing Corpse. I care already about the characters, even a minor character like Dolph. Max Slattery from The Vampire of New York? I could care less.

January 10, 2008

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading. :-)

I finished Guilty Pleasures pretty quickly, and I was on to one of the books Chris bought me for Christmas. I don't feel that I'm a terribly picky reader, and I've forced myself to finish books that were mediocre.

Last night I put down The Vampire of New York in disgust. I had only made it to page 66, and that was me being kind. I didn't care about the characters or the plot, and the poor writing was driving me crazy. This author had been told to show and not tell, and so he (I couldn't find out whether Lee Hunt was male or female, so I'm going with male) thinks by giving lots of detail, he's showing, not telling. He still tells, though.

Here's an example of a passage:

Detective Max Slattery of the NYPD Cold Case Squad looked like Winston Churchill in a butch-cut toupee. He had the kind of face that belonged on a bald head, but his snow-white hair was a perfect bristled flattop exactly half an inch long over a vast expanse of glowing pink scalp. His hangdog jowls were clean shaven and the thought of growing a mustache had never occurred to him. Everything about him was square: face, shoulders, barrel chest and short, powerful legs. Years ago someone had taken a Spuds MacKenzie Budweiser poster and taped Slattery's picture over the dog's face. The caption read: AREN'T YOU GLAD HE'S ON OUR SIDE? A lot of people thought he'd been the inspiration for Andy Sipowicz character on NYPD Blue, and the average reaction on meeting him for the first time was that he was nothing but a dumb Mick cop. He wasn't. He was an extremely smart Mick cop who'd solved more homicides than anyone else in the history of the New York Police Department.

He was also getting old with twenty-eight years on the force, having worked everything from Warrants and Central Robbery to Missing Persons and Manhattan North Homicide. He'd now been with the Cold Case Squad since it was formed in 1996--more than a decade. In two more years he'd reach mandatory retirement, and he knew the boredom would probably kill him. He'd been a cop for almost thirty years and with very few exceptions he'd enjoyed every minute of it. He'd chewed up a few marriages and countless other relationships, lost partners to violence, disease and promotion, and never been on the pad for more than a cup of coffee.

Now get this VERY next paragraph:

The offices of the NYPD Cold Case Squad are located in a squalid little building in Brooklyn. It looks like every other police squad office only more so. Everything is out-of-date, from the telephones to the computers. Everything is either green or brown or beige. Everything is worn out, one way or the other. There are filing cases lined up against the walls, battered lockers and rows of battered desks. There is a police administrative assistant--PAA--named Doris Dubukian, who is a bottle blond, as old as Max Slattery, and who has a memory that is unbeatable when it comes to the mundane. Ask her the names of the first five batters struck out by Sandy Koufax in the first game in the 1963 World Series, and she'll answer immediately: Tony Kubek, Bobby Richardson, Tom Tresh, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris just like that. Behind Doris and Max's back there were whispered rumors of a long-standing affair between the two of them. Rumors were utterly unfounded.

For the first two paragraphs, the author writes in traditional past tense. Then, all of the sudden, we're in present tense, which is like hitting a log in the middle of the road. In a suspense novel, the words need to be moving the reader forward, not getting him stuck in paragraphs of description.

So I put down The Vampire of New York, and went looking for another book. Luckily, when I bought the first Anita Blake book, I also bought the second in the series. Yay me! I've never been so happy to start a book in my life. Good-bye The Vampire of New York. Hello The Laughing Corpse!

January 05, 2008

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading. :-)

It took me a long time to finish Miracle and Other Christmas Stories. It's not that I wasn't enjoying it; I was just enjoying my vacation more. I still loved reading it, although I haven't yet read any Runyon or Wodehouse. Soon, I hope.

Instead, I'm reading Guilty Pleasures, another vampire book. It's not even one of the books Chris gave me for Christmas. I went for the recommendation from my friends over at the Writer's Digest forum for great horror/fantasy. Sorry, Chris. I'll get to your books eventually.

What I find interesting is that there are several series out there that feature vampires. I love, love, love the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris as well as Kim Harrison's Hollows series. Now I'm reading all about Anita Blake, vampire hunter, and sometimes I feel as if I'm in the same world that Harris and Harrison have created. Their vampires share similar qualities (becoming excited by human fear and moving so quickly you can't even see them move, for example). Is there a vampire encyclopedia that I've missed somewhere?

December 12, 2007

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading. :-)

I finished Anne of Green Gables, and I'm on to my annual Christmas book, Miracle and Other Christmas Stories. I've been looking forward to this book for weeks, and it just feels right to be reading it. I read it every year, and I'm sure I'll be writing about it as long as I have this blog. Here's what I wrote about Miracle last year.

This year, as always, I start with the foreword and continue to the very end. I love every word Willis writes, and each year I take away something different from Miracle. So far, this year, it's the fact that every year I read Willis's emphatic recommendation of Damon Runyon (Willis: "I love everything Damon Runyon ever wrote, and if you've never read him, you need to go get Guys and Dolls immediately") and P.G. Wodehouse (Willis: "If you've never read Wodehouse either, what a treat you're in for! He wrote over a hundred books. Start anywhere"). Every year I read those words, and every year I think to myself, "I really should go get some books by Runyon and Wodehouse." Every year I never do it (I never remember the authors' names once I'm at the bookstore, and Amazon doesn't let you feel the books).

December 04, 2007

On the contrary, with a line like this, "After the Mayflowers came the violets, and Violet Vale was empurpled with them," how could one not adore the book?

I'm in love with purple, as is evidenced by the strong profusion of it all over Write Well U and Write Well Me. I love giving out my business cards because one side is completely empurpled. Life is good when there's purple in it.

(Empurpled now joins the ranks of other colors as verbs: yellow, gray, green, blue, redden. Note that some colors won't ever make a good verb: orange, teal, aubergine, scarlet.)

November 06, 2007

My selection of Anne of Green Gables as my newest book was popular! Val was a new commenter, and I checked out her website (I'll always look at your website if you comment. If you're kind enough to read Write Well Me, the least I can do is learn a bit about you!). It all made sense. She's created an L.M. Montgomery resource site, so if you're into the adventures of Anne or you enjoy L.M. Montgomery as a writer, check it out.

I also liked Val's page of books that are on her list to be read. Oh, to be so organized that I have a list of upcoming books-to-be-read! I could list all the unread books on my shelves, but that's no guarantee that I'll actually read them.

There must be something weird about me being interested in what other people are reading. :) If you have a list of books that are on your list, post a comment and share.

November 01, 2007

If you're new to Write Well Me, read this to understand why I tell you what I'm reading. :-)

Here I go again. I finished The Historian, and I was completely surprised by it. I didn't know it was a book about a search for Dracula; I only knew it was a mystery that took the main character through history, much like The DaVinci Code. Vampires and the supernatural themes in the book aside, The Historian is a far superior book. (Now, I like fantasy and horror stories, but other readers may not. I don't think the supernatural themes get in the way of the book - give it a try!) The writing is incredible, and the history (and the research behind the history) makes my mind whirl.

If you're a Dracula fan or an ancient eastern and middle European history fan, you'll enjoy this book.

So I'm done with The Historian (yay Dawn for trying a new author!), and it's the old debate on what to read next.

I was at the library with Anastasia, and I came across Anne of Green Gables. I remember loving the book and the movie. I watched the movie for the first time with my grandparents, and I remember Grandpa getting teary eyed over a very sad part (I don't look forward to rereading that particular scene).

This book has some wonderful memories for me, and I look forward to revisiting them.

October 31, 2007

While I didn't get any information or cool software that I asked for with such subtlety, I did receive some pretty cool gifts. Along with a cool tea pot, tea cups, and sumptuous Earl Grey tea from Stacy, I also got a Borders gift certificate from Lee (she knows me and books!) and a customized "Best Friends" Zena Moon candle from my hot girls.

Cool!

One gift that really hit home, even deeper than the thoughtful, incredible, very Dawn-like gifts above was the Miss Suzy
book Kathryn gave me. In this strange quest I've embarked on to reread books from childhood, I've had to do some real searching. Kathryn was with me when I asked our local librarian to help me remember this book about a squirrel and there were mean squirrels, and then this troop of toy soldiers helped her.... The librarian found it, I made a note of it, and Kathryn evidently filed her own note away.

When it came time to figure out what to get Mommy for her birthday, Chris and the girls did some Amazon shopping. Chris actually found my wish list (I didn't even know that HE knew I had one), and there was Miss Suzy. So, on my birthday, I sat down with my daughters and read to them a book I remember reading oh so many years ago.

And now that it's nearing Thanksgiving, I've a hankering for Cranberry Thanksgiving, which, thankfully, I already own. No long quest for this book.

While those other gifts I thought I wanted might have touched my mind and fed the writer in me, these birthday gifts touched my heart and fed my soul.

October 18, 2007

I'm reading The Historian and really enjoying it. I wasn't sure if it was going to live up to the words on the back cover: "Breathtakingly suspenseful and beautifully written..."

It does.

Reading it is like being a foodie and eating a new dish. You swirl a bite around your mouth, feeling the texture and marveling in the exquisite tastes. You even find yourself trying to identify ingredients. "Could that be basil?" "I think I taste freshly grated Asiago cheese!"

The Historian really is beautifully written, and every now and then I'll come across a word that I pause and savor. Obviously, I'm more likely to be sensitive to words and how they're used, but I think any reader would enjoy how Elizabeth Kostova blends them together to make a delicious dish.

Another thing that struck me is the fact that, at least in the beginning, it's a story within a story. The novel I'm writing is also a story within a story, and I found myself today wondering if that structure worked. Then it occurred to me that it does, as it does well in The Historian.

Yay! (Please forgive that very juvenile outburst from an otherwise professional and mature writer.)